Santa Cruz's Miracle Worker: More than just a haircut

By JOEL HERSCH - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

SANTA CRUZ - At the local barbershop Miracle Worker, people sit down for more than just a haircut. It's also a place where customers can spend time with friends, have discussions and seek personal guidance from the man with the scissors.

Miracle Worker is what its founder, the Rev. Alex Robinson, calls a "black barbershop," but not just because its barbers know how to manage African-American hair.

The Louisiana-born Robinson opened Miracle Worker in 1992 on Errett Circle across from Garfield Park Christian Church, where he used to preach. He used his experience behind the pulpit to turn Miracle Worker into a place that helps unite Santa Cruz's African-American community.

"I opened the shop back in the day because there was no black barbershop and people had to go out of town to get their hair cut," Robinson said. "It was much more than cutting hair though."

When Robinson opened Miracle Worker, he was booked solid for the first week.

Parents in the neighborhood would sometimes send their kids to Miracle Worker so Robinson could counsel them, he said. He has helped people with everything from avoiding drugs and problems with the law, to encouraging people to pursue higher education and giving advice on marriage.

Robinson moved the barbershop onto Pacific Avenue in 1997, and then to its current location in 2002 at 1006 Soquel Ave. The shop is intimate, with only two chairs, but there's high energy and always lots of good conversation.

For Robinson, part of uniting the African-American community in Santa Cruz involves paying tribute to history.

"Our history is something we should focus on all through the year," Alex Robinson said as he discussed the importance of Black History Month. "But February is an especially important time for us to come together and remember some of the black, as well as white, people who paved the way for us to get to where we are today. Black History Month is a time for us to show that we haven't forgotten them."

In 2005, at age 59, Robinson passed the barbershop on to his son and nephew for them to manage and moved to Richmond, where he continues to cut hair - and counsel.

Alex Robinson's son and nephew, Nick Robinson and Louis "Yohnne" Jones, are carrying on the legacy at Miracle Worker.

"He's been my mentor for a long time," Jones said of his uncle. "Now people come in here and really open up to us."

Chauncey Edmonds of Aptos said he has gone to Miracle Worker since it opened.

"This barbershop is a real institution for the black community as a place to meet and talk," he said. "It's been a real staple here in Santa Cruz."